Originally Published: Feb 2020 Once again, it took skiing to remind me of a core business principle. In this case, it’s the principle that in many cases you must “go slow to go fast.” The idea is simple – if you take a pause rather than working as if you are living in a […]
A few weeks ago, I interviewed Warwick Schiller on my podcast in a long conversation that barely scratched the surface of his wealth of knowledge in working with horses. On a podcast about the balancing acts of work and life, you might think he was chosen as a guest to add weight to the “life […]
We found a snake in our chicken coop recently. I was unhappy to be sure – but maybe not for the reasons you might think. Few things scare people more than snakes. It’s an almost universal aversion that for some reason, I do not have. Instead, snakes fascinate me. When I was a kid, my Dad would tell […]
When I was first learning to ski the slalom course, I sat in the boat watching people who could run the course thinking “How hard could that be?” I learned to get up on a slalom ski at age 15. Just doing that felt like a huge accomplishment. I would get up, celebrate that I […]
Originally Posted July 22, 2016 The conversation started as she walked in looking haggard and weary. “I’m so drained, today I can’t be the leader I want to be.” She continued, by saying “I feel like a bitch asking for help –but there is no way I can do all of this by myself.” Unknowingly, […]
When I was learning to ride my bike as a child, the huge moment came the day my Dad took off the training wheels. I would finally get to be like the other big kids! In my kid brain, I thought it would be a simple matter of getting on and doing what I had done so many times before, only like a grown up. Not even close.
It took many falls and skinned knees until the moment of cheating occurred. I would get on, try to pedal and before the other foot could make the circle, the bike would fall over. I became acutely aware of just how much those training wheels had held me up.
In my conversation with Warwick Schiller last week, he described how he is now solving most problems with horses – or problem horses – with presence.
“I’m really starting think that the present part is the most important part. Because what used to happen was…you know I was a horse trainer for a long time. I don’t train horses for the public anymore, so I’m not really a horse trainer anymore. But what used to happen was people would bring you a horse that has problems and you fix those problems. But what I realize now is that a lot of those problems come from us not being present around them. I know it sounds like it can’t be that simple, but it is that simple.”
